Shrek Academy.
Yu Xiaogang stared fixedly at the line on the Heavenly Screen, [Cultivation age: two-million-year soul beast]. The mockery on his face froze inch by inch, as though someone had slapped him in front of everyone.
"T-two million years?"
His voice was dry and hoarse.
Tang San's gaze remained locked on those words, his pupils shrinking to pinpoints.
"Teacher... do two-million-year soul beasts really, really exist?"
Yu Xiaogang's lips trembled, but he could not utter a single word in reply.
As the Grandmaster acknowledged across the entire continent, his lifelong pride lay in this: there was no knowledge of soul masters in this world that he did not possess!
Yet at this moment, his vast learning told him only one thing.
Throughout the history of the Douluo Continent, even the oldest soul beasts had been no more than a hundred thousand years old!
A hundred thousand years versus two million.
A gulf of twentyfold!
"Impossible..."
Yu Xiaogang murmured.
"Absolutely impossible... even if we searched every text on the Douluo Continent, we would never find such a being..."
"But it's right there in the sky."
Tang San's voice was low, each word measured.
"On their rankings-in twentieth place."
"And just now... we were mocking them as some backwater..."
Beside them, Ning Rongrong covered her mouth, her pretty face deathly pale. The smugness with which she had made her arrogant claims had vanished without a trace.
Veins bulged on Dai Mubai's clenched fists, and beads of cold sweat seeped from his forehead.
Ma Hongjun's mouth hung open, and he could not close it for a long time.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, rear garden.
A pin could have been heard dropping.
Ning Fengzhi gazed at the Heavenly Screen. The teacup in his hand trembled slightly, spilling scalding tea onto his hand, yet he did not even notice.
"What... did I say just now...?"
"That it was perfectly normal... for the strong to mock the weak?"
The moment those words left his mouth, he froze.
When he had said that, he had been certain he belonged among the strong.
But now, an ancient, ferocious creature two million years old hung on the Heavenly Screen, ranked-twentieth on their list.
The balance between strong and weak had already been reversed!
"From this moment on, we're the ones who deserve to be mocked..."
Ning Fengzhi's face grew ashen inch by inch. The sect master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, usually adept at handling every side and leaving not a single crack exposed, now caught the faint scent of utter public humiliation.
"Both realms share the same Heavenly Screen. Those arrogant words of mine-the other side could see them, and so could the entire continent..."
"When they start speaking over there... where am I supposed to hide this old face of mine?"
Sword Douluo Chen Xin stood with his hands behind his back. His sword heart, which had carried him unchallenged through a lifetime, now felt a long-forgotten pang of bitterness.
"I have pursued the sword for over seventy years. With the second-ranked sword under heaven, I thought I had weathered my share of storms."
"Just now, I even joined in the jeering, laughing that their claim about Titled Douluos selling breakfast was mere boasting..."
"Now it seems there really might be something to it..."
Bone Douluo Gu Rong stared at the Heavenly Screen, his throat bobbing.
Ning Fengzhi closed his eyes and let out a long, heavy breath, his voice steeped in bitterness.
"A two-million-year soul beast only ranks twentieth over there..."
"And this ranking has only just begun!"
The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, main hall.
Bang!
The teacup in Yu Yuanzhen's hand shattered, scattering tea and broken porcelain across the floor.
He stood rigidly in place, his face turning from livid to white, then from white to gray.
Who had just slapped the table and roared with laughter, calling the Holy Spirit Continent a "land of barbarians"?
Who had declared, "If they beg us, we'll impart our teachings to them"?
Looking back now, every word was a thorn piercing his own face.
Below him, the elders of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan fared no better.
One struck the floor with his cane with a thud, then forgot to straighten it.
Another stood with his mouth open, making hoarse "huh, huh" sounds in his throat, unable to force out a single word.
Others simply closed their eyes, unable to bear another look at that glaring line on the Heavenly Screen.
Meanwhile, on Sea God Island.
The guardians of the Seven Sacred Pillars all gazed at the Heavenly Screen, speechless.
The tops of the Sacred Pillars, where congratulations had rung out without end just moments before, were now so quiet that the sea wind could be heard moaning through the cracks in the stone.
A long while passed.
Sea Horse Douluo swallowed with a dry throat, his voice wavering.
"T-two million years?"
"I didn't read that wrong, did I? It really says two million years?"
Sea Illusion Douluo rubbed his eyes, then rubbed them again, before finally lowering his hands in dejection.
"It's not an illusion."
"And a soul beast they have guarding their outer seas is... is more than twice as old as the strongest soul beast on our side!"
Sea Star Douluo's broad, guileless grin had long since frozen on his face. Now, only bitterness filled his mouth.
"Old Sea Spear just received his reward, all nine rings black, ten thousand year soul rings... I even said I wanted to share in his good fortune..."
"Looking back at how overjoyed we were just now... don't we look like a bunch of children throwing a victory feast over a piece of candy?"
Sea Spear Douluo said nothing.
He merely gripped the sea spear in his hand tightly, every knuckle turning white.
Humiliation!
Especially the humiliation of comparing their two twentieth-place entries!
And Great Enshrined Bo Saixi gazed at the Heavenly Screen, her face utterly pale.
Her lips moved, but in the end, all she uttered was a whisper that was almost to herself.
"I have guarded the ocean for a hundred years. I know exactly how many powerful beings dwell within these seas and beyond them..."
"But this whale's silhouette... I have never even heard of it..."
The wind from the deep sea swept over the tops of the Sacred Pillars, lifting her graying hair.
This representative of the Sea God in the mortal world stared blankly at the Heavenly Screen, remaining silent for a long time.
Deep within those eyes, which had witnessed a century of change, towering waves churned.
The Holy Spirit Continent...
Across this sea she had never heard of, just how many more colossal beings lay hidden?!
At that moment, everyone was dumbstruck!
And they were far from the only ones shaken.
In the Clear Sky Sect, Tang Xiao rubbed his eyes countless times, yet the result never changed.
Inside the Papal Hall, Bibi Dong narrowed her phoenix-like eyes, staring fixedly at the Heavenly Screen. For once, her chest rose and fell unevenly.
For the first time, a wariness she herself refused to acknowledge emerged in those eyes accustomed to watching the storms of the world.
In the Worship Hall, the long-lived enshrined elders all fell speechless. Their clouded old eyes stared at the words "two million years" as though they were looking at some colossal joke.
Only, they could not tell whether the joke was on the Holy Spirit Continent or on themselves.
The branch halls of Spirit Hall, the Star Luo Imperial Family, the imperial court of the Heaven Dou Empire, the great sects and noble clans...
At that moment, without exception, they all stood frozen like wooden chickens.
On the streets, in restaurants, amid the marketplaces.
Millions of soul masters tilted their heads toward the sky, silent as a flock of crows struck mute.
The Heavenly Screen, whose scrolling comments had been a boiling uproar just moments earlier, now failed to display even a single new message.
It was not because no one wanted to speak.
It was because all words seemed pale and powerless before those words!
Two million years!
The Holy Spirit Continent!
Holy Spirit Mountain, the Holy Spirit Temple.
The assembled powerhouses looked at the Douluo Continent's section.
The Heavenly Screen, which had been blazing with messages just moments before, now showed not a single person speaking.
They could not help sneering.
Holy War Gaia folded his arms and gave a derisive laugh.
"Could they... really have been scared witless?"
Before you continue